Every year for Halloween we try to think of a fun group costume. (See previous years here.) The girls have fun playing the part, and I have fun making the costumes and documenting it all. I’ll be honest though, I do solicit the help of my family with these costumes on occasion. We’ll chalk that up to a family bonding experience.

This year my oldest wanted to be Alice for Halloween. My little one wanted to be a butterfly, so we had do some convincing to stick with a theme. Luckily, it didn’t take much convincing. As soon as we reminded her that the Cheshire Cat was PURPLE she was ALL IN!

This year’s location was quite the find! With all of the rain that we’ve been having, my two first locations were completely under water! However, it was meant to be because this location turned out better than I had imagined.

Halloween is such a fun time for our family. What’s not to like? Kids get to dress up and pretend, I get to craft a costume, and everyone gets candy. Then of course comes the…PICTURES.

As I was editing this year’s Halloween photos, it made me reflect on what we’ve done in previous years. It was fun to run down memory lane and visit the ghosts of Halloween’s Past. Here’s a small sampling of what we’ve done. Happy Halloween!

Somehow my oldest baby has graduated to needing 2 hands to show how many years old she is. How time flew by so quickly I’ll never figure out, but it happened. My baby turned 6!

For the second year in a row she is completely obsessed with unicorns, so a unicorn party it was! The day of, we had a small celebration at home and documented it with our annual candle blowing photo. (I love taking these and looking back at them year after year.)

Later in the week, she was able to celebrate with her friends at the local movie theater. I really lucked out this year because the target dollar spot was a mecca of unicorn and rainbow treasures. They also had the cutest pink popcorn containers…if that isn’t the finest show of serendipity, I don’t know what is!

This is 6:

Here’s the deets on the goody “bags.” I still can’t get over the popcorn containers. And unicorn washi tape?? Target winning. Enough said.

After picking buckets upon buckets of blackberries at Wildberry Farms in Sadler, TX (see post here), we needed a plan to get those yummy berries in our belly! I decided that a good old cobbler from The Pioneer Woman would do the trick. The recipe was super easy and super delicious!

In addition to the cobbler, we also made bakery worthy blueberry muffins, and a fresh blackberry salad…all of which were devoured in record time.

I have fond childhood memories of picking dewberries along the ditches of the county roads. We’d come home with scratches and occasionally some poison ivy, but the taste of those sweet berries was always worth it. When I heard of a local pick your own blackberry farm, I knew that it was a must for our summer bucket list.

Wildberry Farm in Sadler, TX did not disappoint. They had pick your own blackberries, blueberries, and sunflowers. They also had fun activities for the kids as well as a little cafe that served the most amazing cheeseburger and fresh blackberry lemonade.

The best part: they had blackberry bushes without thorns, so we came home scratch and rash free. 😉

One of the items on my summer bucket list is to dive into underwater photography. (See what I did there? Ha!). But let’s face it, I’m too chicken to put my DSLR under water, so the Go Pro Hero 5 has become my new best friend.

These are my first attempts at using the Go Pro under water. Before attempting these, I first read the Go Pro guide from Chubby Cheek Photography. This guide is perfect for the hobbiest photographer or the professional just wanting to step back, relax, and have fun! She goes over Go Pro settings, water types, lighting, editing, and even outfits. Check it out and buy it here.

You know what the best part of using this is? My kids love it just as much as I do. It’s a win-win!